The contact between Ruby and Aqua declined more gradually over the last 2 days. Aqua didn't leave his room to eat anymore; he didn't even join Ruby and Miyako for the New Year's celebration. Kana still hadn't left her room. She had been home for an entire week now, and Ruby still came to visit every single day, always leaving with the same result. Akane had signed the documents to leave the Lala Lai Theatrical Company, paying a total of 11.2 million Yen to quit without any repercussions. She still came to visit Aqua sometimes, checking in on him, yet she knew there was nothing really she could do for him right now.
3rd of January, 2:00 pm, audition room
Ruby sat behind an auditioning table alongside Mem-Cho and Miyako, who had been planning this audition for months, and today was the day. Miyako picked the 10 best contestants for the open B-Komachi spot and invited them to introduce themself today. At first, she wasn't a big fan of having Ruby and Mem-Cho with her. Neither of them understood the first thing about what makes an idol great. But eventually, she complied and let them be there. The room they're in was windowless and almost completely white apart from a red circle on the ground 3 meters in front of their desk. Two studio production lights were aimed at it, and a microphone stand with an unplugged microphone in it was standing right there, too.
On the desk in front of Miyako, neatly stacked on top of each other, were 10 folders containing the personal information of each contestant. Ruby grabbed the folder of a random contestant and began to silently read through it, admiring the picture in the top left corner of the document.
Wow, she is absolutely gorgeous. We could probably just pick her and be done with it.
No, I shouldn't get biased already; the other ones are probably just as pretty. Keiko Yamaguchi… Such a cute name.
I need to stay professional… But I can't! Why can't we just expand and let all of them join? I would be super bummed out if I came here and would get rejected… It must feel horrible.
Concentrate, Ruby! She was born on January 23. 2006, this makes her uhm... 15 years old. That's how old mom was when she was pregnant… I wonder if Keiko is as mature as Mom was...
Ruby continued to read for a while before the sound of the door opening made her feel like a deer caught in the headlights; she quickly put the folder back down and tried to focus. The first girl was blonde, just like Ruby, but her tan was a bit darker. She said that her name was Saki Yoshida and that she was 20 years old.
Wow, that's a full-blown Gyaru…
Interesting...
Her natural hair color seems to be black, though.
That would mean the look is totally by choice... I like it.
But her name... I think I read it somewhere before.
After giving a short performance, she walked back out. This gave Ruby, Mem-Cho, and Miyako a short amount of time for consultation before the next contestant would enter the room.
"She was totally awesome," Ruby exclaimed, her voice sounding ecstatic and full of joy.
"You're right, her voice was so perfect too." Mem-Cho chimed in to support Ruby's beliefs.
"I agree, her voice was indeed pretty. But there's a problem." Miyako, who kept quiet til now, spoke.
She sighed, "If I would've known about this I wouldn't even have invited her..." she murmured.
The heads of Ruby and Mem-Cho turned to look at Miyako now. "What do you mean?" The two of them asked in unison, while both displayed the exact same confused expression.
"You two really haven't noticed it? She wore a hoodie the entire time, even though we turned the radiator to the highest setting to simulate the heat of an actual concert. This rubbed me the wrong way, so I paid more attention to it...
"Then in the middle of her act her sleeve slipped up a bit, revealing her wrist to me... I would recognize those marks everywhere, my guess is she's a former drug addict." Miyako said, her eyes aimed straight ahead.
Ruby stayed silent for a moment, letting the implications of all of this sink in on her before she spoke. "But we could-" Miyako interrupted Ruby. "No buts... I know it is not nice to disqualify her for this, since she already had it hard enough most likely, but we can't risk anybody finding it out. I allowed you to come along, Ruby, but I can also send you out if you don't accept this decision," she said.
Ruby looked past Miyako at Mem-Cho; perhaps she could support her. A small pang of betrayal shot through Ruby as she saw Mem-Cho silently shake her head, barely noticeable.
Ruby stayed silent.
"You're right," she murmured after a second.
...
The next contestant walked in, half of her hair was purple, and the other half was green. Ruby still hadn't decided if she thought that the colors matched or if they clashed, as the contestant started to speak. "Hey, I'm Sayaka Satou. And I would absolutely love to join B-Komachi. I'm 18 years old and was born in the Shimane prefecture. So you could say I'm somewhat of a small-town girl, even though I've been living in Tokyo for almost 5 years now." She, too, performed before she eventually left the room again. This time, the votes were more unanimous; everyone, including Miyako, loved how she managed to appear cute yet also come off as mature. Her performance was not as good as the previous one, though. She made a few mistakes in the text and a few wrong steps; however, that's nothing that couldn't be fixed.
...
After five more contestants, it was Keiko's turn. She didn't want to admit it, but deep down, Ruby really looked forward to this one. Her eyes lit up as Keiko walked in; she was even more stunning in person. Her hair was a natural shade of black, while the tips were midnight blue, fading into the black. Her royal blue eyes looked like sparkling sapphires. She was staring right back into Ruby's eyes as she walked up to the red circle. Keiko quietly cleared her throat, though the rest of the room was even stiller.
"Heyyy. I'm Keiko," she said as she tapped against the microphone with her finger. "And I absolutely love being able to perform here today." Enthusiastically, she waved at the three of them as she would wave at a crowd of fans.
She grabbed the microphone out of the stand.
"I'm just 15, but my idol wasn't much older than that, and she managed to motivate me to always keep going, so don't count me out yet," Keiko said just before the background music began to play.
Oh... My... God!
The way she moves is so pweetty.
If I didn't know better, I would say she came up with this dance.
She could be some serious competition for me; if I don't watch out, I might lose the center.
And her voice... It's sooo pretty too, like an angel singing... She's just so perfect.
Ruby was completely captivated by Keiko's performance. Only Mem-Cho and Miyako noticed that Keiko, too, made small mistakes, just like every other contestant before her. She too left the room after she was done with her performance. Miyako only had to glance at Ruby once to see that Keiko left quite the impression on her. So, instead of talking about the performance, she just called the next participant in.
Ruby didn't react much to the last 2 girls. Their performances were good too, but Ruby was completely captivated; her heart raced in a way it hadn't been in a very long time. It didn't feel like the first time she was watching Ai; she had already accepted that nothing would ever make her feel that way again long ago, but Keiko's performance was probably the next best thing to it.
…
The three of them were left behind in the now silent room after the auditions had ended. By now, Ruby had really grown sick and tired of hearing the same song over and over and over again. "So, I hope it is clear that I am the one who will have the final say in this. But I also value your opinions. So, is there anyone you liked specifically?" Miyako asked, as she looked left and right.
Mem-Cho was the first one to take initiative since Ruby was still lost in thought. "I liked contestant number 5, Aiko Takahashi. To me it seemed like she was quite good at playing her role, she also performed longer than average and didn't break a sweat. I think we could form her into a star."
Miyako stayed silent for a moment, thinking back to how Aiko performed. "You're right, she put on this cute and bubbly facade the second she started performing. Fans would love this."
"Just like Ai," Ruby, who didn't even listen to the two of them, involuntarily whispered; the words left her mouth completely without her consent whatsoever.
Miyako and Mem-Cho turned their heads at Ruby.
"Could you repeat that?" Miyako asked
"No…" Ruby, who suddenly snapped out of it, said, "Forget I said it. I would choose contestant 8... Keiko Yamaguchi."
She blinked a few times. "We just have to take her. She was by far the best... Please," Ruby begged
"I think you're right, Ruby, her performance had flaws too, no question. But the way she was able to encapsulate even you was impressive to say the least. Don't get me wrong."
Miyako turned her head to face Mem-Cho.
"Aiko was really good too." She faced Ruby again. "But Keiko felt exactly like the thing fans want to experience. It is a wonder she isn't signed anywhere yet-"
"Does that mean we pick her?" Ruby blurted out, her eyes sparkled with joy, barely able to hold the excitement within her down.
"Yes, we will give her the spot."